Semen analysis results - borderline normally shaped?

eminbmore

DH's semen analysis is back - I was told his motility (60%) and concentration (36 million/milliliter) are normal, but he's borderline for the number of abnormally shaped semen? (He has 6% normally shaped ones, as opposed to about 8% which is the norm - according to the nurse.)

She said this won't pose a problem for IUI, but she was unclear as to whether or not this could be a cause of repeat miscarriage... does anyone have any idea? 

And his other results... good? Normal? Dr. Google tells me his concentration is a little low - is that true? 

HugginAngel

I don't know much about the results and numbers I'm not good with stuff like that but I did learn that 1000mg vitC help increase the amount and that pom. in men helps to make a strong protein shield on the head of the spermies making them tougher soldiers and also helps prevent prostate cancer. So that's my 2cents for the day on spermies..lol

Tinybride08

Our issue is mainly bad morphology. He only has about 13% normally shaped ones. DH takes 5 vitamins a day. The doc recommended, vitamin A, Vitamin C and Zinc. He recently added selenium and something else to that.

I have not heard of bad morphology causing repeat miscarriages as I would think the the abnormal shaped sperm won't even be able to penetrate an egg. ??

Here is a good resource for you regarding male fertility:

https://www.fertilichat.com/forumdisplay.php?f=13

schen0510

I think that your first 2 numbers are fine.  I believe that the average is 50 million/milliliter but I may be wrong.  Either way...36 is great.  My DH only has 8-10 million on average.  We have similar issues with the morphology as well.  His are a bit lower...like 4-5% but my doctor tried IUI first as well...saying that it wasn't a problem.  I guess that if a poor quality sperm did fertilize an egg it could cause m/c but I have never been told this...so don't quote me.  This would be similar to a poor quality egg not implanting I guess.  Again...don't quote me.

There are tons of vitamins that your DH can take to help with all of those things...but nothing that an RE can prescribe...because they are all just basically vitamins.  My DH orders Maca powder and puts it in a protein shake in the morning which is supposed to help...on top of the other stuff already listed!  GL!!! 

eminbmore

Thanks for the info guys - sooo helpful! Would a good multi-vitamin cover the basis for all of the vitamins he needs, or do I need to look into getting all of these things individually? (Does a multi vitamin have enough of everything he needs to be taking?)

SweetieD21

ALL of your DH's results sound great, even his morphology.  The new norm is anything over 3%.  Also, his concentration is fine, anything over 15mil is normal.  Check out this article: https://infertilityblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/sperm-morphology-new-guidelines.html

 

SweetieD21

schen0510:

I think that your first 2 numbers are fine.  I believe that the average is 50 million/milliliter but I may be wrong.  Either way...36 is great.  My DH only has 8-10 million on average.  We have similar issues with the morphology as well.  His are a bit lower...like 4-5% but my doctor tried IUI first as well...saying that it wasn't a problem.  I guess that if a poor quality sperm did fertilize an egg it could cause m/c but I have never been told this...so don't quote me.  This would be similar to a poor quality egg not implanting I guess.  Again...don't quote me.

There are tons of vitamins that your DH can take to help with all of those things...but nothing that an RE can prescribe...because they are all just basically vitamins.  My DH orders Maca powder and puts it in a protein shake in the morning which is supposed to help...on top of the other stuff already listed!  GL!!! 

According to new WHO guidelines, your DH's morph is normal.  https://infertilityblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/sperm-morphology-new-guidelines.html

 

SweetieD21

eminbmore:

Thanks for the info guys - sooo helpful! Would a good multi-vitamin cover the basis for all of the vitamins he needs, or do I need to look into getting all of these things individually? (Does a multi vitamin have enough of everything he needs to be taking?)

Like I mentioned in my previous reply, your DH's results are fine, but if you still want to look in to vitamins, here's a list.  But, rather than getting a bunch separately, he could try FertilAid for Men, which includes a lot of these vitamins.  No matter what he takes, remember, allow about 3 months to see a difference in results.

 

 

?         Folic acid ? 400mcg daily.  Improves sperm quality.   

• Arginine ? take 4 grams daily. Needed to produce sperm and improve motility. If the sperm count is below 10 million per ml, arginine probably will not provide any benefit.
• Coenzyme Q10 ? take 10 mg daily. Increases sperm count and motility.
• L-carnitine ? take 3-4 grams daily. Required for normal sperm function.
• Selenium ? take 200 mcg daily. Improves sperm motility.
• Vitamin B-12 ? take 1000 mcg daily. A B-12 deficiency reduces sperm motility and sperm count. Even if no deficiency exists, B-12 supplementation may help men with a sperm count of less than 20 million per milliliter or a motility rate of less than 50%
• Vitamin E ? take 400 IUs 2 times daily. Is an antioxidant and improves sperms' ability to impregnate.
• Vitamin C ? 1000 mg daily.  Increases sperm count.
• Zinc ? take 30 mg 2 times daily. Required for a healthy male reproductive system and sperm production.
• Saw Palmetto ? 1000mg.  Increases sperm count and strengthens entire male reproductive system.

eminbmore

Sweetie - that blog is awesome, thank you for sharing.

Pixiestx

One thing that we learned from DH's test is that urologists sometimes have a very different idea of what they consider normal than the RE.  Hopefully everybody gets on board with the new guidelines.  Good info, thanks.

Mrs.EmmaLouise

I have no idea what those numbers mean.  But I know that they vary day to day, so when they test/count them again for the IUI you can compare to see if they got better.  I know some ladies have their DH's take zinc supplements to help sperm, not sure what it helps though.  When is your IUI?

ERICA21779

Hi,

My dh's morphology is only 1% on both of the sa's that he had.  Our RE suggested he start a multi-vitamin and he is off to see a urologist in a couple weeks........I'll forward you along any suggestions he may give us.